Do spherical polyelectrolyte brushes interdigitate?

Abstract

The investigation of the structure of spherical micelles of the diblock copolymer poly(styrene-block-acrylic acid) in water with small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and contrast matching was discussed. The intermicelle correlation and the extension of the polyelectrolyte chains in the coronal layer through the overlap concentration was also monitored. It was concluded that with increasing packing fraction and minimal screening conditions the micelles shrink and the coronal layers eventually interdigitate. It was shown that the hard-sphere diameters were derived for salt-free micelles only, because in the presence of excess salt intermicelles interference was effectively suppressed.